West Branch students get out a little earlier

KEVIN HOWELL

Staff Writer

BELOIT — The West Branch school board Thursday night amended the 2017-18 school calendar, moving the last day of classes up a day.

The last day for classes will now be June 6. Schools Superintendent Tim Saxton said the original calendar had a miscalculation of in-service days for teachers, thus the extra day.

In other business, the board approved contracts with the Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office to provide a DARE program at Knox Elementary School for the 2017-2018 school year at a cost of $30 per hour for four hours each day and the Goshen Township Board of Trustees on behalf of the Goshen Police District to provide a school resource officer to the district for two years effective Sept. 1 at an annual cost of $20,000. Neither contracts are an increase from the previous year.

The board also awarded the dairy products bid to Dean Dairy and bakery products bid to Nickles Bakery; and named John Wallace as delegate and Mikki Kanagy as alternate for the Ohio School Boards Association Capital Conference annual business meeting Nov. 12 through 14.

Under personnel, the board accepted the retirement of Karen Rice as payroll clerk effective Jan. 1 after 30 years with the district.

Treasurer David Drawl, who took over the department last year, described Rice as “very helpful, very knowledgeable” during his transition.

Rice is running for a seat on the school board on the November ballot.

The board also accepted the resignations of Scott Doan as a middle school language arts teacher, Brooke Taylor as a varsity cheerleading coach and Mike Greenawalt as a bus mechanic; and hired Martina Jurek DiNello as an elementary teacher, Connie Bancroft as a home instructor on an as needed basis and Christy Biery as Warrior Alternative Classroom director.